Paul Keane in scoreboard Watching this epic qualifier tie unfold in Portlaoise, Clare sweating buckets and Meath literally spilling blood, we recalled how Colm Collins once described the Super 8s as a ‘cynical exercise in collecting more money’ by the GAA.

The Leinster Senior Football Championship has long been crying ‘stop’ and Dublin have long since stopped listening. This wasn’t quite a pulverisation, but unquestionably another endorsement of capital might.

If Meath’s Michael Newman had swapped jerseys with Niall Scully before the start of yesterday’s Leinster final, then all six starting Dublin forwards would have been on the scoresheet.

Warm June rain greeted us as we exited Croke Park yesterday with smiles on the faces of the Royal supporters, in particular. Dublin pelleted over points for fun while both Kildare and Laois squandered some great goal chances. The centurion Cluxton culled the Lillies’ goal efforts and the quality of the forward play and score-taking was exceptional, at times, from all four participating teams.

Two goals in as many first-half minutes laid the platform for favourites Meath to cruise past Carlow in Portlaoise and through to the Leinster SFC quarter-finals.

Bryan McMahon saved Meath's blushes with a late goal to turn a potential disaster into a battling Leinster SFC win for the hosts in Navan.

It was the result most expected but Donegal's journey to the Allianz League Division 2 title was anything but straightforward at Croke Park.

Meath 2-12 Fermanagh 0-11

There was a sensational ending to this fully-blooded Division 2 NFL encounter as a penalty goal from Barry Dardis in added time strengthened Meath’s promotion push at Pairc Tailteann.

Bruce Springsteen’s Glory Days blared out over the tannoy prior to the start of this Allianz League Division 2 tie at breezy Páirc Tailteann yesterday and while that may have been a bit premature for the Royals there were some positive signs in this hard-fought victory.

The fare on offer from both side was well short of what will be needed to win promotion but it was Meath who were happiest at the end of this dour Division 2 tie at Páirc Tailteann yesterday.

Mid-December yet already the challenge of the old enemy Dublin is high on the mind of Meath manager Andy McEntee.

Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11: Paddy Cullen tells a story of a thunderous hit that put Colm O’Rourke to the turf in the last of the four-in-a-row games in 1991.

Galway 0-15 Meath 1-12: You can only imagine the scale of the inquests in Meath this morning had Mick O’Dowd’s men not rescued a draw with a scramble of points in the closing stages of this bizarre game at a cold, wet Salthill.

Meanwhile substitute Cian O’Brien was the hero for Meath as his late equaliser rescued a draw.

Meath 1-13 Cavan 1-20: The coalition Government weren’t the only ones facing meltdown over the weekend.

Meath 1-10 Armagh 0-8: On goes Meath’s winter of content.

Meath 0-11 Louth 0-10

O’Byrne Cup - Meath 2-16 Laois 0-14: Laois manager Mick Lillis has dismissed the suggestion that the appointment of Bryan Cullen as Dublin GAA’s high performance manager illustrates the widening gap between the capital and other counties in Leinster.

O’Byrne Cup - Meath 1-18 Carlow 1-4: Meath recorded a resounding victory against hosts Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park yesterday, with an early second-half goal from Mark Battersby sending them on their a facile victory.

Talk is cheap. It’s the actions that follow from teams that determine whether they really believe or whether they were trotting out a party line — and in some cases trying to convince themselves.

Westmeath 3-19 Meath 2-18: To put all the madness in its proper context, consider where Westmeath were exactly a year ago to the day.

Those who partitioned Meath from Westmeath around 500 years ago didn’t do the Lake County any favours, not in Gaelic football terms at least.

Martin McHugh’s infamous ‘two-trick pony’ gibe regarding Colm Cooper has been turned back on him by Meath manager Mick O’Dowd who has labelled the Donegal man a ‘one-trick analyst’.

For a side with ambitions of taking down the number one team in Ireland, Graham Reilly accepted that struggling against the joint worst team in the country isn’t a great start for Meath.

An intriguing feature of the build-up to Meath’s first championship outing was the positivity of the players and their insistence that Dublin aren’t unbeatable.

Mick O’Dowd has ruled former skipper Kevin Reilly out of Meath’s Leinster championship opener with Wicklow and admitted it’ll be a ‘bonus’ if the stricken defender does return at some point in the campaign.

Sean Boylan knows a thing or two about bringing Dublin down, and while the legendary Meath manager sees no obvious stumbling block to prevent the Dubs running amok in Leinster again this year, he sees problems ahead for Jim Gavin’s side.

Meath 0-14 Cavn 0-12: Meath took the honours against neighbours Cavan at Pairc Tailteann but the spoils were shared out elsewhere as victories for Down and Roscommon ensured top tier football for both in 2016.

Meath 0-13, Laois 0-13:

Meath 4-10, Westmeath 0-11: Meath started a busy month of football with a goal rush that pleased manager Mick O’Dowd at Páirc Tailteann on Saturday night.

Allianz FL Division 2 Round 2: Meath 0-13 Kilare 0-11: It was payback time for Meath footballers following a dismal performance in their opening round defeat to Galway and they delivered in front of their supporters at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday night.

Galway 2-13 Meath 1-12: Allianz Footbal League Division 2: Galway’s exile from the top flight in the league is now in its fourth year but with four of their games at home this season and derby away ties to Roscommon and Westmeath also on the agenda, there is growing optimism that they are in a good position for promotion.

O’Byrne Cup semi-final

If the Myth of Sisyphus rings true for any team in Gaelic games, it’s surely the Meath footballers.

Meath 1-14 DCU 1-14: Meath will have key attackers Stephen Bray and Mickey Newman available for their O’Byrne Cup clash with Dublin.